Roast Pork Loin with Rosemary and Fennel Seeds

Good Friends, Good Food: Roast Pork Loin with Rosemary and Fennel Seeds

Roast Pork Loin with Rosemary and Fennel Seeds

3 lbs. pork loin roast (mine was a bit under, about 2.6 lbs.)

About 6 cloves garlic

Handful fresh rosemary, chopped

Tablespoon fennel seeds

Tablespoon whole black peppercorns

Salt

Olive oil

Butterfly the pork loin and pound it to about ⅔ of it’s original thickness.

In a mortar and pestle grind the fennel and peppercorns. Add the salt and garlic and work into a paste. Stir in the rosemary and combine with about ¼ cup olive oil. Spread the mixture across the open pork loin and roll with the fatty portion ending up on the outside. Tie with string and generously salt and pepper.

Roast the pork loin on a rack in a roasting pan, fat side up, at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. Turn the oven down to 250 and continue roasting for about 45 minutes. The internal temperature should be about 135 when it’d done, it may take 15-20 minutes longer depending on the size of your roast. Remove from the oven, allow to rest for about 15 minutes, remove the strings and slice the roast*. Serve with the beans on the side.

*My one regret: The roast was beautiful when it was finished and I went ahead and sliced it before I paraded it out to our friends at the dinner table (or took a picture). They were all asking me afterwards how I cooked it and I realized they didn’t realize it had been a lovely, whole roast. ALWAYS parade your efforts through the dining room before carving, dishing or deconstruction them to serve!

2 Responses to “Roast Pork Loin with Rosemary and Fennel Seeds”

I like this dish, a nice touch. Only thing I would add is try to toast the fennel seeds a little bit first before crushing them. That will activate their oils, and allow the flavor to permeate the meat a little more.

Good call. I was lazy and figured the seeds would release their oils during roasting – but a quick toast and allowing the rubbed and rolled loin to marinate a bit before cooking would yield a much more intense fennel flavor.